Top 10 most improved ZIPs in San Diego County

A bank-owned home in San Diego. Photo by Scott Allison | U-T San Diego

Home prices in San Diego County have fallen nearly 39 percent from the countywide peak in November 2005 when looking at all sale types, the latest DataQuick numbers show. Real estate agents say it’s unclear when, or if, the county’s median home price will return to that level.

However, further analysis indicates that a majority of the ZIP codes tracked by La Jolla-based DataQuick have shown improvement since their individual troughs. From that perspective, some neighborhoods, such as Logan Heights and El Cajon (92020), have bounced back more than others. The same trend is evident in sales.

The U-T San Diego analysis compared the sales and price lows for all major ZIP codes in the county to where they were as of the first quarter of this year. Any ZIP codes with fewer than 40 sales during the first quarter were not included in the study.

Using that criteria, here are the Top 10 most improved ZIP codes in the county, in prices. We'll post the results for sales on Thursday.

1) 92113 • Logan Heights: +76% | Low: $105,000 Current: $184,500

This neighborhood, east of downtown San Diego, has been a favorite among real estate investors and other bargain chasers, and won in the most-improved category among roughly 90 ZIP codes in the county. However, this area took a hard fall before it started its steady climb up. Its all-time peak was $407,000 in the third quarter of 2006.

2) 92020 • El Cajon: +61% | Low: $155,000 Current: $250,000

Flippers have stayed busy installing new kitchens, bathrooms and carpeting at properties here, said Patrick Finn, a Century 21 Award agent in Rancho San Diego. This area has been popular with investors because they’ve been able to snap up value homes for less than $300,000, which has been a hot price range. This area of El Cajon also fell a long way from its peak of $435,000 in the middle of 2006.

3) 92025 • Escondido S: +51% | Low: $185,000 Current: $280,000

Prices stayed in the $400,000 range during the first two years of the current housing cycle (2005 to 2012) and exploded to $525,000 during the last quarter of 2007. Prices took a quick dive the next quarter to $365,000, a 30 percent decrease, and kept falling. Median prices in this area have slowly climbed up to the $200,000 range during the past two years. However, housing distress may be impeding quicker progress. This area ranked 11th in most mortgage defaults per 1,000 homes in the community.

4) 92115 • College: +45% | Low: $186,250 Current: $270,250

The College Area followed the oft-heard script of a neighborhood that soared to meteoric heights during the housing boom but lost steam once the recession hit. Though the median price has started to bounce back a bit, this area is among those suffering from foreclosures. College ranked seventh in foreclosures last month.

5) 92029 • Escondido W: +42% | Low: $335,000 Current: $475,500

This neighborhood reached its trough in the first quarter of 2009, around the same time three others in our Top 10 recorded their low points. This ZIP code ranked low in completed foreclosures and mortgage defaults in March and also a year ago.